Genetic Predisposition towards Smoking

The current social perspective towards cigarettes and smokers tends to be that smoking is a bad habit and a conscious choice. The general opinion is the idea that while quitting is often difficult, it is still very possible for anyone who wants to do so. While there is certainly some truth to this point, new scientific studies have proven that not only are children of smokers more likely to pick up the habit, but that there is actually a gene that influences addiction and tobacco use. Studies have revealed this specific gene has two variants -- A1 and A2 -- which further influences how susceptible someone is to addiction. Some findings suggest that A2 is the more virulent of the two, but this evidence has not yet been confirmed. While there is not a one-to-one correlation between those that smoke and those that carry the gene, it is a huge factor when determining how long it takes to become addicted and how difficult it is to quit. Among adolescents, it also increases the likelihood of falling victim to social pressure to smoke. Adolescents who carry the smoking gene and suffer from mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder are more than twice as likely to start smoking. The close link between smoking and mental illness has been noted for a long time, and there is currently research in progress that is investigating the relationship between the newly identified smoking gene and the one that influences mental health.

No Genes? No Problem

Even if one does not carry the smoking gene, studies have shown certain people can still have a mental predisposition towards smoking. Specifically, those with anger management problems or a history of aggression and anxiety are usually placed in the "high risk" category. This is because even non-smokers with these personality traits often respond more readily to nicotine patches than those in the low-risk category. The general scientific conclusion is nicotine creates a response in the brain that helps control angry actions and speech, and many smokers can confirm that cigarettes help them to not only stay focused, but resist the urge to make rash decisions based on anger. For hostile people with the genetic predisposition towards smoking, this can be a lethal combination. For people who find they need their cigarettes for two different reasons, smoking is a difficult habit to quit.

Smoking is, for most people, both a psychical and psychological addiction that affects the respiratory, circulatory, and nervous systems. In the long term, it impacts almost every organ in the body. Receptors in the brain control how much of an affect nicotine has, and different people have a more rapid uptake than others. Scientists have known this is true for brain chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin for a long time, but they are only now beginning to realize that this is also true of nicotine. While there are not specific nicotine receptors in the brain, this chemical affects the entire neurological system, causing your receptors to become increasingly sensitive to -- and demanding of -- nicotine. Those with a genetic predisposition towards the habit have, in general, a quicker uptake of nicotine. The quicker the uptake of nicotine, the more nicotine it will take to keep the body from going into withdrawal, and the harder it will be to quit once and for all. The general quitting pattern is to try multiple times, using multiple methods. In most cases, it is not successful. While the only way to completely eliminate the heath risks of cigarettes is to never start or to give them up if you do smoke, the fact is that this is usually a lot easier said than done. In fact, there are many smokers who, after trying to quit multiple times, simply feel resigned to their habit, and the new studies about genetic predisposition help to shed light on this phenomenon.

Cut Cigarette Use With an Alternative

For anyone who is concerned about the health effects of smoking but feels unable or unwilling to quit, there is now a new alternative smoking device called Fifty-One™ that can help you and those around you feel safe without disrupting your smoking lifestyle. Fifty-One™ cigarettes are electronic. While requiring no flame and emitting no actual smoke, electronic cigarettes simulate the sensation of tobacco cigarettes through the use of a nicotine vapor mixture. This smoke-like substance consists mostly of water vapor but with a set amount of nicotine added. The vapor is also colored with propylene glycol, a common food coloring ingredient, to more closely resemble cigarette smoke.

Though it is virtually odorless and harmless to others, Fifty-One™ e-cigarette delivers the exact amount of nicotine you need without any of the added dangers of tobacco smoke. The reason smoking is so dangerous is not the nicotine addiction, but rather the actual process of smoking the other four hundred or so chemicals in tobacco. Among these chemicals are forty carcinogens, but they are not solely responsible for the health problems associated with smoking tobacco. The chemical process of setting just about anything aflame releases vapors that are also associated with lung cancer. Between these two risky components of tobacco cigarettes, it is easy to see why Fifty-One™ electroninc cigarette is a safer alternative. Not only do electronic cigarettes allow you to smoke just about anywhere without concern for those around you, but you can also feel more secure about your own long-term health prospects. Studies have shown all of the short-term and many of the long-term effects of smoking will disappear within a few months of ceasing the habit. The next best thing, of course, is to cut out all of the most dangerous chemicals and processes associated with smoking, while still enjoying the habit you crave. Fifty-One™ allows you to do this at approximately a third of the cost of tobacco cigarettes.